| Renaissance (band) |
Article Index for Renaissance |
Website Links For Renaissance |
Information AboutRenaissance (band) |
|
Renaissance was a British Progressive Rock band popular in the 1970s . HISTORY Former members of The Yardbirds Paul Samwell-Smith, Keith Relf and Jim McCarty organised a new group devoted to experimentation between Rock , Folk , and Classical forms. This quintet ( Bassist Louis Cenammo, Pianist John Hawken , and Relf's sister Jane as an additional vocalist) released a pair of Album s on Elektra , but dissolved quickly, leaving McCarty to reform the band into a very different lineup, though McCarty also soon departed. This new lineup, probably the best-known of the band's history, consisted of Annie Haslam ( Vocals ), Michael Dunford ( Acoustic Guitar ), John Tout ( Piano ), Jon Camp ( Bass / Vocals ) and Terry Sullivan ( Drums ). This new Renaissance -- with Dunford in a composer-only role for the time being, and Rob Hendry ( Electric Guitar ) filling the guitarist's chair -- released ''Prologue'' in 1972 . The music was written by Dunford and McCarty with lyrics by poet Betty Thatcher. Hendry departed (to be ultimately replaced by Dunford) as the group turned away from the electric guitar in their music. In the 1970s, Renaissance had a commercially successful career, their sound similar in many ways to Folk Rock with classical overtones. However, Renaissance's performances were normally faithful reproductions of the studio recordings, and this was not taken well by fans. Classically influenced, Renaissance included in their songs quotations and allusions from such composers as Bach , Chopin , Albinoni , Debussy , Rachmaninoff , Rimsky-Korsakov , Prokofiev and others. Renaissance scored a hit Single in 1978 with ''Northern Lights,'' taken from the album '' A Song For All Seasons '', but the band floundered following 1979 's '' Azure D'or '', as fans were unhappy with the band's turn towards Synthesizer s, a path followed by most progressive rock bands at one time or another. Camp had assumed more of the band's songwriting, and Tout and Sullivan left. Haslam, Dunford and Camp released a pair of albums in the 1980s and then broke up. Their albums were not available on CD for some time, though a pair of Compilations were issued in 1990 . During the 1990s , though, much of their catalog was reissued. In the late 1990s, both Haslam and Dunford formed their own bands using the name Renaissance, and have released albums with different line-ups. PERSONNEL The original 1969 line-up comprised Keith Relf (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Jim McCarty (drums, vocals), John Hawken (keyboards), Louis Cennamo (bass) and Jane Relf (vocals). This lineup released ''Renaissance'' ( 1969 ) and appeared on most of ''Illusion'' ( 1971 ).
DISCOGRAPHY Chronological releases
Renaissant Terry Sullivan's renaissance style band
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|